Scott W. Stern is a writer, scholar, and public interest lawyer. He is a regular contributor to numerous publications and is the author of The Trials of Nina McCall, a New York Times editor’s choice selection and Boston Globe best book of the year. He lives in Oakland, CA.

“[A] powerful new history. . . . Stern focuses on two famous Mississippi County cases to track how sexual violence was legally weaponized.”—Alexis Coe, New York TimesRecipient of the 2026 John William Graves Award, sponsored by the Arkansas Historical Association“With deft sensitivity, Stern rescues from obscurity the vibrant but painfully lived lives of ordinary women enduring abuse from the legal system. Creative, gripping, and moving all at the same time.”—Heather Ann Thompson, author of Blood in the Water“Scott Stern’s brilliant study of unequal justice in Arkansas captures important and underexplored aspects of the handling of rape cases as a means of reinforcing white supremacy and Jim Crow.”—Jeannie Whayne, University Professor, University of Arkansas“A moving narrative and astounding work of historical reconstruction. Prodigious archival research, empathetic judgment, and an eye for detail make for a revelatory account of race, gender, and the law.”—John Fabian Witt, author of Lincoln’s Code“With deep historical context, rich detail, and engrossing narrative, Stern constructs braided narratives of three notable Arkansas cases, making palpable the racially disparate outcomes of rape trials, for those accused and those assaulted.”—Estelle B. Freedman, author of Redefining Rape

Scott W. Stern is a writer, scholar, and public interest lawyer. He is a regular contributor to numerous publications and is the author of The Trials of Nina McCall, a New York Times editor’s choice selection and Boston Globe best book of the year. He lives in Oakland, CA.

“[A] powerful new history. . . . Stern focuses on two famous Mississippi County cases to track how sexual violence was legally weaponized.”—Alexis Coe, New York TimesRecipient of the 2026 John William Graves Award, sponsored by the Arkansas Historical Association“With deft sensitivity, Stern rescues from obscurity the vibrant but painfully lived lives of ordinary women enduring abuse from the legal system. Creative, gripping, and moving all at the same time.”—Heather Ann Thompson, author of Blood in the Water“Scott Stern’s brilliant study of unequal justice in Arkansas captures important and underexplored aspects of the handling of rape cases as a means of reinforcing white supremacy and Jim Crow.”—Jeannie Whayne, University Professor, University of Arkansas“A moving narrative and astounding work of historical reconstruction. Prodigious archival research, empathetic judgment, and an eye for detail make for a revelatory account of race, gender, and the law.”—John Fabian Witt, author of Lincoln’s Code“With deep historical context, rich detail, and engrossing narrative, Stern constructs braided narratives of three notable Arkansas cases, making palpable the racially disparate outcomes of rape trials, for those accused and those assaulted.”—Estelle B. Freedman, author of Redefining Rape

Scott W. Stern is a writer, scholar, and public interest lawyer. He is a regular contributor to numerous publications and is the author of The Trials of Nina McCall, a New York Times editor’s choice selection and Boston Globe best book of the year. He lives in Oakland, CA.

“[A] powerful new history. . . . Stern focuses on two famous Mississippi County cases to track how sexual violence was legally weaponized.”—Alexis Coe, New York TimesRecipient of the 2026 John William Graves Award, sponsored by the Arkansas Historical Association“With deft sensitivity, Stern rescues from obscurity the vibrant but painfully lived lives of ordinary women enduring abuse from the legal system. Creative, gripping, and moving all at the same time.”—Heather Ann Thompson, author of Blood in the Water“Scott Stern’s brilliant study of unequal justice in Arkansas captures important and underexplored aspects of the handling of rape cases as a means of reinforcing white supremacy and Jim Crow.”—Jeannie Whayne, University Professor, University of Arkansas“A moving narrative and astounding work of historical reconstruction. Prodigious archival research, empathetic judgment, and an eye for detail make for a revelatory account of race, gender, and the law.”—John Fabian Witt, author of Lincoln’s Code“With deep historical context, rich detail, and engrossing narrative, Stern constructs braided narratives of three notable Arkansas cases, making palpable the racially disparate outcomes of rape trials, for those accused and those assaulted.”—Estelle B. Freedman, author of Redefining Rape